After Long Separation
by Mara Greengrass
Summary: Nobody but Cameron Mitchell could have pulled this off. Even Daniel, who was generally wellliked, couldn't have managed it.


TITLE: After Long Separation   
CATEGORY: Futurefic. Gen, but with various pairings referenced.  
SUMMARY: "Nobody but Cameron Mitchell could have pulled this off. Even Daniel, who was generally well-liked, couldn't have managed it"  
DISCLAIMER: The setting and characters belong to Stargate Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, Gekko Productions and the Sci-Fi Channel. Sadly, I'm not making a red cent off how much I love them.  
NOTES: This is a thank you to Stexgirl for giving me "Stargate SG-1: The Ultimate Visual Guide" as a Chanukah present. ::cough:: As you can see, I'm a bit slow with my thank yous...

* * *

Standing against the wall with a beer in his hand, Jack considered the fact that nobody but Cameron Mitchell could have pulled this off. Even Daniel, who was generally well-liked, couldn't have managed it.

But Cam...even 10 years after joining the SGC, he still had the enthusiasm of an 8-year-old meeting his baseball idol in person, and the ability to charm everyone into feeling that same enthusiasm. And that led to the first-ever SGC alumni reunion.

When Jack got the invitation, his first reaction was "No."

His second reaction was "Hell, no."

But that damn Mitchell kid, who wasn't a kid anymore but a damn general himself, didn't take no for an answer, and here he was, holding up a wall and holding back the memories.

Jack took a drink. Heck, at least there was good beer. Siler, who'd retired a chief master sergeant, saluted him as he walked past with his wife and two kids. Jack smiled and waved. Good man. Bit of a trouble magnet, but in a facility that had housed Daniel Jackson, Jack O'Neill, Rodney McKay, and Vala Mal Doran, Siler had tough competition.

Speaking of Daniel, there he was now. Sadly, he'd brought Vala, who oozed up to him and batted her eyelashes. "Hello again, General," she said.

Daniel rolled his eyes as he shook Jack's hand. "Hey, Jack. Ignore her. She's just mad because I said she couldn't tease the guards at the front door."

"Good to see you, Daniel. Haven't seen you since the wedding."

Daniel flushed. "We've been busy. I--"

"I know where you two have been," Jack said, waving a hand. "I was just yanking your chain. And how are the Asgard? And how many of them did Vala annoy?"

Vala chuckled. "Not as many as you'd think. They found me rather...charming."

Jack coughed into his hand. "Really."

"Indeed they did." Daniel's straight face was a marvel of marital practice. "Apparently the Asgard have a better sense of humor than we thought. Thor likes her nearly as much as he likes you."

"Tell me he's not naming a ship after her." Jack glared and Vala smirked.

"No, no, of course not."

"Daniel."

"Weeeelll..."

"Daniel!"

"It's just a little ship. More of a cruiser, really."

Vala smiled broadly at him. "It docks on the new O'Neill class."

"I hate you both very much."

"I know," Vala said, patting his cheek. "Now I'll let you two catch up." She slid away through the crowd like a pickpocket looking for new targets, but when Jack looked at Daniel, his eyes were following her and a fond smile was on his face.

Shrugging, Jack considered the fact that there was no accounting for taste. "So, things are going well?"

Daniel dragged his attention back. "Yes, they are. And you?"

Shrugging, Jack took a drink. "Can't complain."

"Really?"

"Because if I started complaining about the bureaucracy in Washington, we'd be here all night."

Daniel grinned. "That's the Jack I remember. Hey, there's General Landry."

"Go catch him," Jack said, waving a hand. "We've got all night."

He glanced around the room, wincing when he realized who he was looking for. Sadly, General Hammond's heart attack the previous year had left him too weak to attend.

Over in the corner, he saw a bunch of familiar faces, former trainees like Hailey, Grogan, and Satterfield, heads bent over as one of their fellows told a story. "They look well," Teal'c said, coming to stand beside him.

"They look grown up. When did that happen?"

"I believe it is a common side effect of time."

Jack rolled his eyes. "They'll always be kids to me."

"I believe that is a common side effect of aging."

"Ha." Shaking his head, Jack looked around. "Hey, where's the wife?"

"She was unable to attend. Her duties on Dakara made it impossible for her to leave."

"Sorry to hear that. Tell her I said hi."

Teal'c smiled. "I will pass on your regards."

"Right. That."

* * *

"Walter!" Jack said, slapping his former assistant on the back. "How're you doing?"

"Very well, sir." Walter shook his hand gravely.

"You got out of the gateroom finally, didn't you?"

Walter's cheek twitched. "Six years ago, sir. General Landry offered me a posting in logistics when he found that I'd been fixing that department's mistakes all these years."

"Excellent! I would assume your first task was--"

"Getting better food for off-world missions, yes." Walter gave a firm nod.

"Good man. I knew I could count on you."

"Thank you, sir."

They smiled at each other in happy accord until a familiar face caught Jack's attention on the other side of the room. Turning, Walter followed his gaze, then swallowed. "Ah, if you'll excuse me..."

Jack didn't even notice Walter's hasty departure as he stalked across the room and grabbed a young man by the scruff of his neck, dragging him away from the shapely blonde Marine sergeant he'd been chatting up.

"Oh, for crying out loud," Jack's clone said, craning his head to glare at him.

"Who invited you?" Jack asked in astonishment.

"Well," his clone replied, "I am an SGC alum. Got all your memories, didn't I? Besides, I'm in the Air Force now. They didn't waste any time snapping me up."

Crossing his arms, Jack registered the Air Force uniform. "How'd the Academy go?"

"Better the second time," he said with a smug grin.

"You still failed Advanced Chemistry, didn't you?"

The clone scowled. "Only once, unlike you."

"What can I say?" Jack said with a shrug. "All those letters and numbers..."

The scowl deepened. "Puh-leaze. Why don't you peddle that crap to someone who believes it?"

Grinning, Jack held out his hand. "Good luck, kid. Try not to repeat too many of my mistakes."

"Doing my best." The clone turned away, heading back to the shapely sergeant and Jack sighed, shaking his head.

"Some things never change, hmm?" an amused voice said behind him.

Jack turned, his jaw almost dropping at the beautiful woman in the green pantsuit addressing him. It took him a moment to recognize the face. "Cassie?"

"One and the same," she said, giving him a hug. "It's good to see you, Jack."

"Good to see you, too. I hear you finished your residency."

Cassie nodded. "Yeah. It took a while, since I had to catch up with those forged records, but I've finally got the MD and a position at a hospital."

Jack felt his throat close and he remembered why he hadn't wanted to attend this event. Taking a sip of water, he cleared his throat. "Janet would have been very proud of you."

"I hope so." Cassie paused. "I'm not going to work for the military, though. I tried and I...I can't handle the battlefield medicine the way Mom did."

"Doesn't matter." Shaking his head, Jack put a hand on her shoulder. "I just know she'd have been proud to see you become a doctor, wherever you practiced and whatever you did."

"Even if I'm a plastic surgeon?"

Jack froze.

Cassie snickered. "Just kidding. Actually, I'm a pediatric cardiologist at a hospital in Kansas."

"Don't scare me like that, kiddo, or you'll be working on my heart." He pretended to wipe his brow.

"Nah. You'll never die. You'll just get older and more cantankerous."

Narrowing his eyes, he stared at her. "I'm going to choose to take that as a compliment."

"You do that." Her smile mellowed. "I'm really glad you came. I...I haven't kept in touch with Mom's friends as much as I should have. It was tough, after she died I mean."

"It was tough for all of us. But don't be a stranger anymore."

"I won't." She hugged him again.

* * *

"Sheppard," Jack said, putting a few meatballs on his plate and scouting the rest of the table, "I didn't expect to see you here."

Sheppard shrugged as he took a sip of his drink. "Well, Rodney's been itching to come since the invites went out."

"And?"

"And if you were in charge of Atlantis, would you let Rodney come by himself?"

Jack followed Sheppard's gaze to a corner by the meatballs, where Drs. McKay and Lee were waving their hands, voices rising precipitously. "Ah."

"Yeah." Sheppard drained his glass and put it down with a sigh. "Good to see you, General."

"Likewise." Jack watched Sheppard mosey over and touch McKay's arm, whispering something in his ear. McKay's mouth closed and he obediently followed Sheppard away. Jack grinned, wondering if he really wanted to know what had been said. Probably not. Some things...

"General O'Neill," someone said.

"Jonas Quinn, it's been a while." Jack turned and smiled at the scientist, who remained as enthusiastic as ever. Somehow after all these years his habit of looking like he wanted to bounce up and down and squeal had become endearing rather than annoying.

After talking to Jonas, Jack somehow found himself in awkward conversations with Vala, Cameron, and Dr. Lam. He was starting to get twitchy.

From his position by the fruit tray, Jack caught Teal'c's eye, jerking his chin toward a free table. Teal'c gave a tiny nod and excused himself from the conversation he was in, snagging Daniel on the way. Making his way across the room, Jack tapped Sam on the shoulder as he went by.

By the time he sat at the table, Teal'c, Daniel, and Sam were a few steps behind him. They sat in silence and over Teal'c's head, Jack could see more clueless people being steered away from them. Mitchell smiled at him and turned back to talking to Lorne.

"So, kids," Jack said when Daniel shifted in his seat, "here we are."

"Here we are," Sam said, clinking his beer bottle with her own.

Daniel swirled the liquid in his glass. "Did you ever think we'd all make it to this point?"

"No," Teal'c said, "I believed that we would all die in battle."

"A ray of sunshine as always, Teal'c," Jack heaved a melodramatic sigh.

"Daniel asked, so I answered him."

Slumping back in his chair, Daniel shrugged. "I didn't think we'd make it either. But here we are. We defeated the Goa'uld, beat back the Ori, and the folks in Atlantis took out the Wraith."

"We lost a lot of people along the way, though," Sam said.

"I haven't forgotten." Daniel sat up, looking annoyed.

"Whoa!" Jack put up his hands between them. "Relax."

"Sorry, Daniel, I didn't mean that." Sam held out a fist and Daniel bumped it with his own.

"I know. Reunions just make me...unsettled."

"Me too," Sam agreed.

"Me three." Jack took a swig of beer. "Who gave him this idea anyway?"

"Don't look at me, sir. I tried to convince him not to do it."

Teal'c sighed. "I would think he would listen to you. After all, you--"

"Well, he didn't." Sam shrugged. "And I suppose it's worked out okay. People seem to be having a nice time."

Jack shrugged. "Good beer helps."

When SG-1 started to get loud, they moved their party out into a nearby hallway. Daniel waved a finger at the rest of the original his former team. "Not counting Hathor, the Keeper, Urgo, Osiris, etc etc, I've had two bullet wounds, two staff weapon wounds, nine shots from a zat. Not to mention being hit by the ribbon device nine times, and getting addicted to the sarcophagus. And let's not even get into the dying thing."

Jack sniffed in disdain. "Amateur. Two bullet wounds, three staff weapons, five times with the ribbon, eleven times with a zat, and Ba'al killed me a few dozen times. Oh, and there's the three knee surgeries, the hypothermia--"

They all froze at the familiar sound of an energy weapon powering up and being pointed in their direction, turning slowly to look at the blond-haired man in the dress uniform of a Marine lieutenant standing at the end of the hallway. He didn't look familiar, Jack thought, frowning.

"This is for the Alonfree!" the man hissed.

Jack frowned harder, tilting his head to think. "Are they the ones from P4X 295?"

"No," Daniel said, shaking his head, "that was the Asponhee."

"I thought they were on P2X 875."

"I believe you are confusing them with the Spangeen," Teal'c said.

"This is not a joke," the man yelled, spittle flying. "You will pay for your treachery."

"Uh-huh," Jack said. "Well, you might want to talk to the armed people behind you before you do anything rash."

"I'm not falling for a trick that old."

"Oh, it's not a trick," Daniel said. "But really, if you want to shoot me, go ahead. I can assure you, though, that my wife--who's standing just to your left--is an excellent shot with those two mini-blasters she stole on P9X 871."

"I didn't steal them," Vala said, upping the charge and making both guns whine. "I...liberated them from a much-less-deserving owner who planned to kill me."

"And Col. Sheppard, who's a few feet to her right," Jack said, "hasn't had the chance to shoot anyone all week and he's bored."

"I wouldn't say bored," Sheppard said. "Twitchy, maybe."

"And if you plan to shoot anyone," Teal'c said, "shoot me first, because if you do not, I will rip. Your. Head. Off."

The man's face was white, his hand shaking as if he had palsy, and the gun dropped to the ground.

Sam scowled at her former teammates. "Hey, that's not fair!" she said. "I didn't get a chance at him."

Cam lowered his gun as Marines barreled around the corner and hustled the would-be terrorist away. "That's okay, darling. I'm sure you would have said something very scary about me."

"D'you know," Jack said, "just once I'd like to be able to see some of you without guns being involved. No aliens, no plots to take over the world. Is that so much to ask?"

As they wandered back into the party room, Jack answered his own question. "Yep, too much to ask. But at least we've gotten this evening's weirdness out of the way, right?"

Daniel said, "Sure, Jack," but his attention was on someone on the other side of the room.

I won't look, Jack thought.

"Isn't that..." Daniel began.

"I believe it is," Teal'c replied.

"Oh dear," Sam said.

I won't look. I won't... Jack turned. "Who the hell invited you?"

Dr. MacKenzie blinked in surprise. "Er, I believe the invitation came from General Mitchell. I was the base psychiatrist after all."

"Oh, and a wonderful job you did at that." Jack glared, while behind him, he heard several muffled coughs.

"General, you're not still upset over that incident with Dr. Jackson, are you?"

"Oh, you mean the bit where you locked him away and assumed he was CRAZY? No, I'm not upset at all."

"Jack, I--"

"No, not upset that you nearly drove him nuts yourself and--"

Teal'c stopped the tirade by the simple expedient of clamping his hand over Jack's mouth until he stopped trying to talk.

"I'm really quite hurt that you continue to hold a grudge," MacKenzie said.

"Not as hurt as you--"

"Jack!" the former members of SG-1 said.

"Can't I hurt him a little bit?"

"No!"

Jack glared at all of them. "Then somebody had better get me more beer."

* * *

Standing behind a podium with a piece of paper in his hand, Jack considered the fact that nobody but Cameron Mitchell could have pulled this off. Even Daniel, one of his best friends, couldn't have managed it.

Because everybody knew that Jack O'Neill didn't do speeches. Everybody, apparently, except for Cam, who simply ignored him when he said he wouldn't do it. And ignored him when he repeated it. And ignored him when he slammed down the phone.

And somehow Jack was behind this podium with a stilted speech prepared, but then he looked around the crowded room and he put the paper down.

"You know," he said to all the expectant faces, "despite everything that's happened since I first heard the word 'Stargate,' there's no place I'd rather be than here, with all of you. Well, almost all."

Cam rubbed his face and Sam patted his back, trying to hide a grin.

"We've been through a hell of a lot, haven't we? A lot of aliens, a lot of deaths, pain and suffering. Every one of us has lost at least one important person."

To Jack's surprise, a subdued Vala put her arm around Daniel and hugged him close, taking away the pain on his face.

"But we've all gotten a lot out of it too. We've learned a lot in our travels, about the universe and about ourselves. Made new enemies and new friends."

Teal'c inclined his head, his slight smile saying everything that needed to be said.

"And I'd be willing to bet none of you would choose to be anywhere else either.

--end--


End file.
